Brief Explanation

In 2011, driven by their goal to deliver “Performance with Purpose,” Pepsi in the Philippines became the pioneering sponsor of MyShelter Foundation’s Liter of Light Project – an initiative which aims to provide sustainable lighting solutions to impoverished communities through the upcycling of plastic bottles. What started out purely as a CSR effort soon became a consumer-facing one, as Pepsi began to see the potential of leveraging Liter of Light to connect with its key target of teens and young adults. Recognizing the project’s natural fit with the young Filipino’s socially-conscious spirit, Pepsi decided to integrate Liter of Light into its traditional marketing campaigns – turning it into an ownable marketing platform through which the brand could be more deeply relevant to its target. Since then, numerous initiatives have been executed by Pepsi together with MyShelter. These include the development of both the traditional day light bottle and its upgraded night light counterpart, as well as the funding and implementation of numerous volunteer efforts – ranging from bottle collection, fundraising drives, lighting installation activities, and livelihood seminars to teach communities to build their own bottle lights. Furthermore, Pepsi solicited the help of its biggest endorser, popular local heartthrob Daniel Padilla, to spread the word about the cause. Through online videos, social media activities and other on-ground events, Daniel helped push support for Liter of Light, even generating over $226,000 for the project through a globally-run social media campaign that converts every #PepsiChallenge hashtag into a $1 donation for the project. This same campaign hopes to generate $1 million by the end of 2015, as the Liter of Light project has been adopted as a worldwide beneficiary by Pepsi offices all over the globe. To date, Pepsi’s sponsorship of Liter of Light has led to the installation of over 190,000 bottle lights in the Philippines, benefiting over 95,000 families. Outside the Philippines, the project has also been taken up in Pakistan, Colombia, Mexico, Malaysia, and Vietnam, with ongoing plans for Brazil, Vietnam and India. Liter of Light has similarly proven itself valuable in helping drive business results. The brand has recorded a +430% increase for the image attribute “For Someone Like Me,” a key measure of emotional affinity among the target. This has likewise contributed to Pepsi’s continuous rise in the Philippines, helping deliver a 4% volume increase over the last 5 years – a noteworthy achievement given the cola category’s flat growth.